Vacuum cup holder for towels and the like



July 25, 1950 A. J. GANZ VACUUM CUP HOLDER FOR TOWELS AND THE LIKE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 2, 1948 i c a m 4 4 M4 2 4 5 m. 2 m, l 2 2 3z 4 LP m W m m w J h w I m l. l. m.

QTTOQNGV y 5, 1950 A. J. GANZ 2,516,311

VACUUM CUP HOLDER FOR TOWELS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 2, 1948 .2Sheets-Sheet 2 62 Bier J. 6mm- INVENTOR.

Patented July 25, 1950 VACUUM our HOLDER Eon TOWELS' AND- THE LIKEAlbeit J..Ga1iz,'. Les Angeles; cant. Application Septin-Her 2, 1948,Serial-Nm47A30:

The present invention. relates to holders for towels and the like,particularlyone employing a suction cup for application to-a wall; and.the primary object of the invention is to: provide a: device of thiskind which is: convenient to usemxtremely simple and inexpensive tomanufacture. and easily afiixed to a: wall for support. In thisv sameconnection, one of thefeatures of. the invention is the provision of animproved holder formed of two interiitting moldedv rubber parts, one ofwhich. constitutes: the. suction cup, and the other part being thetoweleholdingv element saidparts being soshaped. and arranged:relativeto, one another that. neither interferes with the properfunctioning of the other; and both. being likewise soshaped as: to be.readily produced loyconventional molding. processes.

A further obiectof the intention is to provide a. holder embodying". anovel-towel gripping member which is extremely simple, yet highlyeffective. towel grippingmember preferably termed in the shape of aflat-bottomed cup'that is, at, tachedto the back of, the suction cupwith its hot; tom end presented outwardly. The extiosedloottom end ofthe cup-hasazigza-gsl-it formed these in which extends from; onesidetovthe otherg and. when the sides oi the-cupadiacent the:endslofutheslit are pressed together, the edges oftheslitare caused to spread apartand open outwardly. so that the edge of a. towel or other article can beinserted into the gaping slit; Uponbeing' released,

the cup returns. to its; normal.shape,,, closing. the

slit and engaging the towelrthereinwitha iiesiljient grip. v I g V v;

Another object oi the invention to provide a. holder of the. typedescribed a suction cupmember thatis particularly designed to giveanenhanced seaimg-anegnpp eg.eaten. To this. end, the periphery of thesucticncupis given a special shape proyidinga. second and separate"vacuum sealing area around the. outside: of the primary suction area ortli'e cul'fil A still further. feature of. invention is. the provisionof a suction. towel. holder of the class described, wherein the. suctioncue has a: preformed hole at its center extending alrno'st; but notentirely, tmougume cup" from the'loa'cl; or outside surface thereoif sothat a tack can easily be pushed through the reii'iainingiuaiterial tomount the holder on aroughicr porous surface of a type unsuited t'othe"use ortnesuction cup in the usual. manner I The foregoingand other.olijfect's and a'dj am tagesof the invention .wi'll. become" apparentto those skilled .intheartiupon consideration Qt. the following detaileddescription of the prefenee a oninis (01. 248-206) 2'1 embodimentthereof, reference being had to the drawings; in which:

lj'igure 1. is aperspective View of a'holder em liodying the principlesof the invention}.

Figure 2 is another view of the same, showing:

the. nanner in which. the edges of the slit spread apartand, gapeoutwardly when the gripping rnernber is squeezed together adjacent theends: oi the slit;

Figure 3 is an enlarged verticalsection through they hbldri Figure 4; isan can see or agripping member;

showing another form of thezigzag slit;

Figure 5 shows sun another form. of the zigzag.

Figure 8 is a perspective new illustrating. the

manneroi assembling the device; and

Figure 9 is a perspective View illustrating the insertion ofan articleinto thedevi'ce.

q In the crawingsth e holder is" designated in its entiretyb'y thereferenc'e' numeral H), and com: prises a suctionicupmember H, and agripping member 12: Both of these members" are molded of either naturalo Synthetic rubber, and are provided with. irit'erfitting portionswherehy the gripping member maybe securely inou'nt'edonth'e back of thesuction cup member for support.

The suction Cup member ['1 circular in planform', and has a maingenerally;frusto conifcal wall, including sloping sides f4 andtop l5-,'w"hicir ma 11a or substantially uniform thickness; excepting for aspecial formation at the outer e-- 1 riphe'ry;

penned integral-1 y with the side wall M and: projecting outwardly fromthe Back face Mfd thereof is an inn-ul'ar mountingflange i3 which ispreferably somewhat less in thickness thanthe thicknessofthe suction cupmem'Ber at the poi'nt. oi -their junction. Somewhat roughly speaking,

the flange l3 preferably has a diameter of about 80%" or a 1ittle'lessthanthe outside diamet'er or the entire cup; inwardly-directed up It isprovided around" the-'edg'e'of the-flange 13. The

gripping member I 2 is generally-cup-shapeil, wan

cylindricalside walls' 'ifi a fat, relatively outer end walr 21-;Formed" amen-stile were of} In member is an outwardly directed lipZYwlticli is member I2 is open at its end corresponding to lip 16, it issusceptible of collapse, as to the position of Figure 8, and is hencecapable of'ready assembly and disassembly with respect-:to-.the.gripping member I l.

The usual method of mounting the holder Ill on a wall or other surfaceis to moisten the suction face of the vacuum cup H, and then press thesame firmly against a smooth surface. Air is expelled from underneaththe suction cup, and atmospheric pressure thereafter holds the cupfirmly against the wall surface. As the cup is applied to the wallsurface, the main side wall [4 thereofj bends-'relative to :to'p If: toflatten toward the wall surface"; and the flap portion'24 bendsoutwardly likewise, but through a few additional degrees of anglebecause of its initial angular relationshipgto'walhlii, The resilienttendency for the flap portion to return to its initial angle relative towall [4 causes its periphery to contract slightly, which forces the cupwall upwardly a .short;distance ingthe region of the thin section Theouter end wall 21 of the gripping member I2 is formed with atowel-receiving slit-preferably azigzag'slit 23 extending substantiallyfrom one side of the member to the'otherw One'form of the zigzag slit 23is shown in Figure 1, While another form is shown at 23a. in Figure 4,and still a third form is shown at 23b in Figure 5. The'chiefcharacteristic of each of these slits is that it'is ge'r'ierally zigzagin configuration-affording a long line of slit, aswell as gripping teethand this slit extends in a generally diametral direction across thecircular end wall 2| substantially from one side to the other. It willbe observed that the'zigzag slit 23b in Figure 5 is curvate, each of thepoints of reversal in direction being smoothly curved. The feature thatmakes these zigzag slits more effective than the usual three-way orfour-way radiating slits that have heretofore been'employed is the factthat when the gripping memberis squeezed from opposite sides adjacentthe ends of' the slit, the edges of the slit gape open and pointoutwardly, as shown in Figure 2, making it possible to insert the edgeor a corner of a'towel or similar object between the toothededges of theslit. The resilient gripping member. I2 is then released and springsback to its original form, closing the edges of the slits together onthe article inserted therein and engaging the same in a yieldable grip.The article is removed from the gripping member by merely giving it aslight tug, which pulls it free of the resilient grip. Alternatively,the cor her of a towel or the like, such as T in Figure 9, can simply beforced inbetween the gripping points of the holder by a thrust of theindex finger. In such action, the flexible holder l2 readily expands ordeforms with any stretching forces so imposed, and thereis no tendencyto tear the slit at its ends or corners.

The side wall portion l4, formed preferably at Mb .toa minimum wallthickness point Md, and from there has a surface Me which slopes to the.

periphery of the cup at an increased inclination say at about 45,to thetransverse plane. The cup is thus given a minimum thickness section nearbut somewhat spaced inside its periphery, outside of'which a flapportion -fil -of the shape described, andthere is an obtuse angle ofabout 155? between the inner wall surface 140 and thefiap surface 14c. 1

l ld, as has been indicated in Figure 6 at 25. The

result is that there is a double vacuum seal, first,

the sealing area 26 inwarid of the annular slightly raised c'up'region'25, and second, an:additional annular sealingarea all outsidethe outside of the.

. cordingl'y,'a hole 21- is formed in the center of thesuction-cup-mem'ber, said hole extending almost but not entirely throughthe member so that a thumb tack 2:8 can easily be pushed through theremaining material" and into the wall, as shown in Figure 7,

While Ijhave shown and described in considerable detail what I believeto be the preferred form of my invention,'-it is to be understood thatsuch details are not restrictive, and that various changes may be madein the shape and arrangement of the several parts without departing fromthe scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

lclaim'g 1. A' holder for towels and the like comprising a suction cupmember having an annular mounting flangeprojelcting from' the back sidethereof, said fiangehaving an inwardly turned lip along itsedge, acup-shaped gripping member formed of soft rubber-like material andhaving cylindricalsi'de walls and a flat, relatively thin outer endwall, said cylindrical side walls having an outwardly turned annular lipformed around the open endthereof, said annular lip being engageableunder the lip onsaid mounting flange to secure said gripping member tosaid suction cup member, and said end wallof said gripping member beingformed with slit means adapted to engage a portion of a towel or similarobject to hold the same in a yieldable grip.

2. A 'deVi'ceasdefined in claim 1, wherein said suction cup memberhas ahole formed in the center thereof'which extends almost, but notentirely, through the member, whereby a thumb tack can easilyfbepushedthrough the remaining material to securethe suction cup member to arough or .porous surface of the type unsuited to the useof, thesuctionicupin the usual manner.

' 3. A holder for towels and the like comprising .5 mounting flangeprojecting from the back side thereof, said flange having an inwardlyturned lip along its edge, a cup-shaped gripping member formed of softrubber-like-material and having cylindrical side walls and a flat,relatively thin outer end wall, said cylindrical side walls having anoutwardly turned annular lip formed around the open end thereof, saidannular lip being engageable under the lip on said mounting flange tosecure said gripping member to said base memher, and said end wall ofsaid gripping member being formed with slit means adapted to engage aportion of a towel or similar object to hold the same in a yieldablegrip.

ALBERT J. GANZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,694,235 Schoenfelder Dec. 4,1928 1,739,641 Lessmann Dec. 17, 1929 1,792,903 Haller Feb. 17, 19311,892,140 Fogler Dec. 27, 1932 2,051,068 Ayre et al Aug. 18, 19362,278,075 I-Iecht Mar. 31, 1942 2,432,719 Braun Dec. 16, 194 7

